1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS 427 – Pedigree

A Genuine -- and Documented -- Dick Harrell Super Camaro

Bill Thomas and Dick Harrell are widely credited as being the progenitors of the big-block Camaro supercar. The 427 transplant was a concept Harrell constantly refined and redefined through his association with Bill Thomas Race Cars and Nickey Chevrolet, as well as supercar dealers Don Yenko and Fred Gibb. The Dick Harrell Performance Center (DHPC) in Kansas City, Missouri, was also legally classified as a small manufacturing company, and as such was able to sell its own version of these Camaro hybrids (along with Chevelles and Chevy IIs) through a network of participating Chevrolet dealerships coast to coast.

Muscle car collector George Lyons is the current owner of this 24,000-mile ’69 Dick Harrell 427 Camaro, one of 10 reportedly built that year. This Camaro is complete with corresponding paperwork from the DHPC archival files, making it one of the best documented examples of a ’69 Dick Harrell Super Camaro in existence. Enhancing its value is the fact that it also features the DHPC-installed 427 big-block Chevrolet engine, TH400 Turbo-Hydramatic transmission, and 4.56-geared GM 12-bolt Positraction rearend.

Our story begins in late 1968, when John Penso, a crewman on Al Vanderwoude’s “Flying Dutchman” Dodge Charger AA/Fuel Funny Car, struck up a conversation regarding the ultimate in street-driven muscle cars with Harrell. Penso told Harrell that he was looking for a fast street car, and Harrell suggested he should purchase one of his Super Camaro conversions, complete with all the proverbial whistles and bells.

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Within a matter of weeks, Penso ordered his dream car through Dana Chevrolet in South Gate, California (since he was a California resident). The 375hp SS396 Camaro sport coupe to be used for the conversion was shipped to Bill Allen Chevrolet in Kansas City on January 21, 1969. The transfer of title from the Bill Allen new car sales department to the DHPC occurred on February 2, 1969, when Harrell and employees Dave Libby, Buddy Rice, and James Zeleny undertook the actual conversion.

Since Penso wanted to drive his new toy home to the West Coast–a 1,500-mile trip–gas mileage and overall drivability were key issues. He requested that the routinely installed Lakewood slapper traction bars, Camaro ZL1 camshaft, and 4.56 gears be placed in the trunk for future installation. Penso also wanted the Dick Harrell badges to be placed in the glovebox and the original 396 emblems left on the car to keep up its sleeper status. (The story has it that the 427 emblems would eventually be mounted on Penso’s toolbox.)

“He even got the paint code right on the Lakewood slapper traction bars”

Upon taking delivery, Penso made some running changes, including a complete blueprint of the 427 engine and the installation of a center-exit dual-exhaust system, a set of Cal Custom finned aluminum valve covers and matching Cal Custom air cleaner, and a set of Stewart Warner gauges. Penso flared the rear fenderwells and moved the battery to the trunk. He also relocated the gas filler neck inboard and repainted his Camaro a custom shade of candy blue.

In the early ’70s, Penso sold the Harrell Camaro to speed shop owner Leonard Kazinski, who would occasionally street race the car, but in reality it spent most of its time in a storage locker. Then along came Jason Booth, a freshman at Adolfo Camarillo High School whose parents owned a restoration shop in Oxnard, California.

“One day, a call came in from a guy saying he owned a ’69 427 Camaro that was for sale,” Jason remembers. “It had originally been in storage but was now sitting outside at Channel Islands Harbor covered with a tarp. It had no hood and was in rough enough condition that my dad passed on buying it.”

“What a scary deal that was with those old hardened rubber tires and that 4.56 rearend”

The Camaro sat for two more years. In the meantime, the Booth family moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. Jason saved his money while finishing high school, hoping his dream car would still be there when he graduated. It was, and in the summer of 2000, Jason bought it and had it shipped to Hilo. When it arrived, Jason drove the car across the island (about 95 miles) to Kailua-Kona–in the rain.

“What a scary deal that was with those old hardened rubber tires and that 4.56 rearend,” Jason recalls. “I must have been crazy, but I made it!”

Jason installed an L88-style Stinger fiberglass hood and a new set of Cragar S/S wheels. Simultaneously he began checking numbers and was also able to contact John Penso, who confirmed what the car was and how he came to buy it. Penso sent Jason some low-resolution pictures of the car when it had been for sale, and he provided a letter answering many questions Jason had.

Unfortunately, the reality of not having enough capital to properly restore a car like this led to its sale. The car was advertised online in 2002, where Tim Lopata, noted GM historian and president of the Forge Invitational Muscle Car Show, spotted it.

“I noticed that the car was for sale but had no documents,” Tim says. “I contacted the owner, who explained the relationship with John Penso. He sent me some photos of the car and told me the story of Penso picking it up at Dick Harrell’s shop. I looked at some of the modifications on the car and called Dave Belk, who was buying cars for collector Joe Zrostlik. I told Belk that I believed the car to be a true Dick Harrell car, but to pay accordingly with it not having any documentation. My instincts were correct. When Valerie Harrell started going through all of her father’s paperwork, she found the correct documentation for the car. This is one of the only cars that I have ever recommended that someone purchase without documentation, and it turns out that I was right!”

In 2003, Zrostlik commissioned Larry Byer’s Prime Auto in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to perform a complete rotisserie restoration. Fortunately, the 24,000-mile machine was, with the exception of the rear quarter-panels and taillight panel, in amazingly good condition.

Harrell customarily installed “Built by Dick Harrell” emblems on the driver-side nose cap and the passenger-side decklid, yet Zrostlik and Byers found no traces of holes being filled in where the badges were supposed to have been, further confirming the story of Penso wanting them left off. However, for the sake of authenticity, Zrostlik wanted them installed. Dave Libby was able to track down the original supplier and order a set.

Mechanically, the Harrell-installed 427, complete with its solid-lifter ZL1 cam, was rebuilt by Dave Hoskins from D&D Engines in Marion Iowa. It is technically correct right down to those Cal Custom finned aluminum valve covers, Cal Custom air cleaner, and the original Jardine factory headers. That also goes for the car’s Harrell-calibrated TH400 automatic transmission and 4.56-geared rear axle. Byer’s restoration was so complete that he even got the paint code right on the Lakewood slapper traction bars and ACDelco air shocks. And finally, an N.O.S. set of 1970-vintage Goodyear Blue Streak drag slicks was obtained from Lopata’s extensive inventory of GM muscle car parts.

The Harrell Camaro still features its original black vinyl interior (though new carpets were installed), Stewart Warner five-gauge instrument panel, and Harrell trademark rearview mirror-mounted SW 8,000-rpm tachometer. Looking as if it had just rolled out of the DHPC shop that very morning, the Camaro was displayed at the 2005 Forge Muscle Car Show, where special guests John Penso, Dick’s widow Elaine Harrell, daughters Valerie and Jennifer Harrell, Dave Libby, Buddy Rice, James Zeleny, Harry Kalwei, and Dale Pulde autographed the hood, which was later clearcoated to preserve the moment in time.

In 2007, Zrostlik traded the 427 Camaro to Bill Porterfield as part of a cash/trade deal for Porterfield’s highly prized ’69 Fred Gibb ZL1. Porterfield, long a proponent of the belief that cars were made to be driven, was so impressed with the restoration of the Le Mans Blue ’69 that he said that the car was “almost too nice to drive!”

In early 2012, George Lyons purchased the 427 Camaro and basically “freshened it up,” adding such items as a set of N.O.S. Moroso lightweight front drag tires to make the car more period-correct. With street performance described by Lyons as being “a real eye-opener,” the Penso/Harrell 427 Camaro currently resides in his private collection of vintage muscle cars and Offenhauser-powered Indianapolis 500 roadsters.

Believe it or not, there is still a handful of genuine Dick Harrell-prepared Camaro, Chevelle, and Nova supercars out there that have yet to be found. According to GM muscle car historian Tim Lopata (copo427@charter.net) and Dick Harrell Performance Center archivist Valerie Harrell (www.dickharrell.com) these VINs were taken from original DHPC inventory sheets. Happy hunting!